By-election to Jharsuguda assembly constituency in Odisha will be held on May 10; counting on May 13

The Commission has decided to hold bye-election to fill vacancies in 1(one) Parliamentary Constituency of Punjab and 4(Four) in the following Assembly Constituencies of Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and Meghalaya –

Sl. No.	Name of State/UT	Parliamentary /Assembly Constituency No. & Name	Reason for vacancy
	Punjab	04-Jalandhar (SC) PC	Death of Sh. Santokh Singh Chaudhary
	Odisha	07-Jharsuguda AC	Death of Sh. Naba Kisore Das
	Uttar Pradesh	395- Chhanbey (SC) AC	Death of Sh. Rahul Prakash Kol
	Uttar Pradesh	34-Suar AC	Disqualification of Sh. Mohammad Abdullah Azam Khan
	Meghalaya	23-Sohiong(ST) AC	Poll Adjourned due to death of contesting candidate of United Democratic Party (UDP)

Schedule for the bye election and adjourned poll in Meghalaya is as follows:

Schedule for Bye-election for Parliamentary/Assembly Constituencies and adjourned poll in Meghalaya
Poll Events	Schedule
Date of Issue of Gazette Notification	13.04.2023 (Thursday)
Last Date of Nominations	20.04.2023 (Thursday)
Date for Scrutiny of Nominations	21.04.2023 (Friday)
Last Date for Withdrawal of candidatures	24.04.2023 (Monday)
Date of Poll	10.05.2023 (Wednesday)
Date of Counting	13.05.2023 (Saturday)
Date before which election shall be completed	15.05.2023 (Monday)

1. ELECTORAL ROLLS

The Electoral Rolls for the aforesaid Assembly Constituencies finally published on 5^th January, 2023 with qualifying dates as 01.01.2023 and updated till last date of making nominations will be used for these elections.

1.  ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES (EVMs) & VVPATs

The Commission has decided to use EVMs and VVPATs in the bye-elections in all the polling stations. Adequate numbers of EVMs and VVPATs have been made available and all steps have been taken to ensure that the polls are conducted smoothly with the help of these machines.

1. IDENTIFICATION OF VOTERS

Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) shall be the main document of identification of a voter. However, any of the below mentioned identification documents can also be shown at the polling station:

1. Aadhar Card,
2. MNREGA Job Card,
3. Passbooks with photograph issued by Bank/Post Office,
4. Health Insurance Smart Card issued under the scheme of Ministry of Labour,
5. Driving License,
6. PAN Card,
7. Smart Card issued by RGI under NPR,
8. Indian Passport,
9. Pension document with photograph,
10. Service Identity Cards with photograph issued to employees by Central/State Govt./PSUs/Public Limited Companies, and
11. Official identity cards issued to MPs/MLAs/MLCs.
12. Unique Disability ID (UDID) Card, M/o Social Justice & Empowerment, Government of India

1. MODEL CODE OF CONDUCT

          The Model Code of Conduct shall come into force with immediate effect in the district(s) in which the whole or any part of the Assembly constituency going for election is included, subject to partial modification as issued vide Commission’ s instruction No. 437/6/1NST/2016-CCS, dated 29^th June, 2017 (available on the commission’s website).

1. INFORMATION REGARDING CRIMINAL ANTECEDENTS

          Candidates with criminal antecedents are required to publish information in this regard in newspapers and through Television channels on three occasions during the campaign period. A political party that sets up candidates with criminal antecedents is also required to publish information about criminal background of its candidates, both on its website and also in newspapers and Television channels on three occasions.

 Commission vide its letter No. 3/4/2019/SDR/Vol. IV dated 16^th September, 2020 has directed that the period specified will be decided with three blocks in the following manner, so that electors have sufficient time to know about the background of such candidates:

1. Within first 4 days of withdrawal.
2.   Between next 5^th – 8^th days.
3.   From 9^th day till the last day of campaign (the second day prior to date of poll)

 (Illustration: If the last date for withdrawal is 10^th of the month and poll is on 24^th of the Month, the first block for publishing of declaration shall be done between 11^th and 14^th of the Month, second and third blocks shall be between 15^th and 18^th and 19^th and 22^nd of that Month, respectively.)

          This requirement is in pursuance of the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Writ Petition (C) No. 784 of 2015 (Lok Prahari Vs. Union of India & Others) and Writ Petition (Civil) No. 536 of 2011 (Public Interest Foundation & Ors. Vs. Union of India & Anr.).

          This information will also be available on an App titled, ‘know your candidates’.

1. COVID RELATED ARRANGEMENT DURING BYE-ELECTION

In view of overall improvement in the situation of COVID country wide and in view of withdrawal of restrictive measure under D M Act by NDMA/SDMA, it has been decided to follow the advisories issued by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Government of India from time to time.  During the process of bye election, there should be continued focus on the five-fold strategy, i.e. Test-Track-Treat-Vaccination and adherence to COVID Appropriate Behaviour.  The District machinery should effectively monitor COVID situation and enforce the norms of COVID Appropriate Behaviour by prescribing requisite legal/administrative norms.

The Commission has issued COVID guidelines, October, 2022 on 14.10.2022 which are available on the Commission’s website https://eci.gov.in/files/file/14492-covid-guidelines-for-general-electionbye-elections-to-legislative-assemblies-reg/  to be followed during conduct of elections.